Friday, May 23, 2014

GESTURE DRAWINGS

Artists take risks.

- try new things: This is honestly the very first time I have ever done a gesture drawing. I had never even heard of it. In the beginning, I really did not understand it. We watched videos but the artists did it so quickly. They had a lot of scribbles but somehow in the end they turned out to look nice. It is about showing movement.

- experiment: You have to draw the lines showing which way the limbs and spine are going. Then I found it to look like stick figures. After this, I started to add circles around areas such as kneecaps and shoulders (just any connecting joints) then added more oval-shapes around the legs and torso to show that is has a body, but still shows the clear line of movement.

Artists collaborate.

I definitely shared ideas and knowledge with my classmates during this. To be honest, I was the one needing most of the help. I did explain to others that you are not outlining the body but you are sort of in-lining them (I can't describe it). The different positions were sometimes hard to work with. By this, I mean that when you can't see the other leg... it's difficult because I kept wanting to draw it anyway.

you cannot see the bones in the real-life models, so I had to often ask my friends how they drew the pose.

Artists solve problems.

- try alternative solutions: I remember seeing these wooden models of people in craft stores such as AC Moore. I knew they helped you draw people but as soon as we learned about gesture drawings, it clicked in my head. You can pose the figure any way you want and I think this may have been easier. I realize we do not have money to buy a life-size gesture drawing but I wish we did.

- use mistakes as learning opportunities: I believe if I were to do this in the future it would turn out a lot better. I learned a lot from doing this. I learned a lot about proportions also. the body is 8 heads high and the legs are twice the length of the torso. I feel like when I draw I often try to follow the lines instead of thinking about measurements. I also cannot use a ruler correctly to save my life.

How did you respond to challenges that occurred as you worked?- I definitely just kept trying. These images I posted are NOT the original gesture drawings. I do not wish to post those because they are so badly done. I believe I made progress.

The first two images above are the most recent. Even comparing them to the 3rd picture, you can tell I started to understand the techniques of this idea more.